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This chapter analyses how the gender of the entrepreneur is associated with firm-level innovation performance, both directly and in conjunction with other firm and manager attributes. Using a unique survey data set collected in 2013 from the DILIC project in Ghana, and formulating a two-stage model, the chapter examines if gender differences exist in firm-level innovation activities in Ghana. Our analyses show significant differences in innovation behaviour between women’s and men’s firms, suggesting that women are less likely to introduce technological and new-to-market innovations, and also sell less of innovative products. However, the results show that women are more active in adopting non-technological, especially marketing, innovation. For policy, the chapter offers new insights into gender differences, and the role of informal firms in the innovation system of Ghana, and suggests that there is a need for new policy redirection towards informality on the one hand and the need for specific institutional arrangements to address this gender gap on the other hand.

The paper explores the factors driving Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) by Emerging multinational enterprisess (EMNEs) and the patterns of knowledge transfer in six cases of EMNEs from three BRICS’ economies (India, China and South Africa). It found that there are significant differences between the OFDI from EMNEs and Developed multinational enterprise (DMNEs), which cannot be explained by using traditional FDI models. The way that EMNEs enter and operate in developed and developing countries are different. Knowledge transfers between EMNEs and developing host economies are predominantly one way and the former transfers more technology and knowledge than they gain. In the case of EMNEs and developed host economies, the knowledge and technology transfers appears to be more evenly matched, a two-way street benefitting both parties. The paper makes two major contributions: (i) it attempts to identify and distinguish the factors driving OFDI and patterns of knowledge transfer of OFDI from EMNEs and shows how they differ from DMNEs; (ii) it highlights aspects of OFDI by EMNEs such as expansion into countries outside their respective regions, and different patterns of technology and knowledge transfer in the South and North respectively.

Scholarly publication output of engineering research from the member countries of the African Union (AU) are mapped using scholarly publication data from the Scopus® database of Elsevier. The countries are ranked based on various parameters, for example; number of publications, activity index, citations received and so on. The collaboration profiles of countries are plotted using Social Network Analysis tools. The results show that the engineering research publications are increasing in Africa at an exponential rate. However, this is not the main research focus, as the indicators like the activity index and the relative specialization index show overall negative productivity. The possible reason for low productivity in engineering science is perhaps due to the limited coverage of African scholarly publications in global citation databases. Interestingly, engineering research papers from the AU member countries have received quite a good number of citations. So, it is fairly certain that African engineerin...

The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) economies have been the subject of many scholarly studies in recent years, as well as featuring in the popular media. This special issue of the African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development (AJSTID) called for original research contributions in the various aspects of Science Technology and Innovation (STI) studies in the BRICS group of emerging economics. The issue is composed of 11 research papers on different STI topics relevant to the BRICS countries.

Food crop production in Nigeria is mostly at subsistent level from small holding farms yet; the World Bank (2007) reported that agriculture accounts for over 70% of the active labour force, and more than 23% of the Gross Domestic Product in Nigeria (GDP). Agriculture is the mainstay of the majority of Nigerian rural poor, producing major food crops comprising cereals such as sorghum, maize, rice; tubers which include yams, cassava; legume such as groundnut and cowpea. Maize is one of the worlds’ three primary cereal crops. It occupies an important position in world economy and trade as a food, feed and industrial grain crop. The importance of maize in Nigeria cannot be over emphasized, with the country producing 43% of maize grown on West Africa (Olarinde et al. 2007). However, increase in maize production in Nigeria has been achieved greatly by expansion in area harvested rather than increase in yield (Olaniyan 2015). Transformation lies in using innovation to improve the products and services delivered by actors in the production process (Ayinde et al. 2013a). Technological innovation refers to a process driven by an intention of imposed changes, managed, accompanied, collaboratively or individually elaborated in view of introducing, suppressing, restructuring or displacing an element or system within an established context (Adamczewski 1996).

Economic success of a nation is highly related to Scientific and Technological (S&T) capability building. Therefore, both industrially developed and developing nations follow explicit strategies to increase their technological competency. However, Technological Capability (TC) building cannot be completed in isolation. It is a long-term process and requires a country to pass through different phases of learning, infrastructure development, human resources management and institutions building. This chapter analyses Indian and South African S&T capability through the major input (R&D expenditure, manpower) and output indicators (High Technology Export, Technology balance of payment, scholarly publications, patents and so on). It is observed that India is ahead of South Africa in some respect but in some areas South Africa’s performance is quite good. The study concludes with the policy recommendations from the developing countries’ particularly the South African perspective.

Africa emerged from the ordeals of colonialism with deeply traumatized population, widespread poverty and backwardness, weak economic and institutional infrastructure, dual economic structure within national economies, arbitrarily drawn and fragmented political boundaries, and vulnerability to persistent tension and instability. The 1960s were considered commonly as the decade of political independence of the continent even though the struggle against colonialism and apartheid somewhat continued in different corners of the continent for much longer period. The initial conditions of liberation and the legacy of colonialism throughout Africa left little room for optimism and magnified the daunting challenges that the new African nation states confronted and had to address within a fairly short period of time.

The book has shown that socio-economic development in Africa is inextricably tied to innovation that is anchored on an integrated policy at the national, regional and continental levels. As various contributors have demonstrated in this volume, there is an acute limited capacity for innovation at the national level in many African countries. The limitations at the state level is particularly informed by the structural disarticulation of the economies of the various African countries. As scholars have shown, dependence on export of raw materials and unprocessed minerals cannot foster sustainable development in Africa (Page 2016). According to UNECA (2016) there are new momentum in boosting innovation and regional integration in Africa both at national, regional and continental levels. From Kenya and Ethiopia in East Africa to South Africa in Southern Africa as well as Nigeria and Ghana in West Africa innovation hubs are being established where new products are manufactured.

The purpose of the study was to identify and quantify key predictors of satisfactory municipal services on municipal waste management in the City of Tshwane, South Africa. The expected and perceived quality of waste management services were analysed by using SERVQUAL analysis. The study found that the perception and expectation of respondents on the quality of sanitary services provided to them were significantly influenced by the degree of motivation of employees of the City of Tshwane at work, the ability of employees of the City of Tshwane to treat all customers with respect, the ability of employees of the City of Tshwane to provide adequate answers promptly to queries raised by customers, and the degree to which employees of the City of Tshwane were skilled on technical issues, in a decreasing order of strength.

Traditional neo-classical market approach to regional integration/cooperation mainly focuses on trade and investment. The paper proposes an innovation system approach to regional integration/cooperation as an alternative that focuses on knowledge, learning, innovation, and competence (KLIC) building without excluding trade and investment. The underlying argument is that while liberal trade and investment conceptual framework takes a narrow economic gain and loss approach, the system of innovation approach includes economic and non-economic variables by including KLIC, and broad economic and social gain. The paper presents the Neighbourhood System of Innovation (NeSI) conceptual framework which captures the reciprocal interactions between national innovation systems (NSI) of larger ‘regional economic pole’ (REP) and smaller economies (or among NSIs of the smaller economies) in the ‘Neighbourhood’ region. The case of China and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (REP and Neighbourhood, respectively) is u...

Foreword Mammo Muchie 1. Introduction Mammo Muchie, Saradindu Bhaduri, Anga Baskaran and Fayaz Ahmad Sheikh Part I: Perspectives of Informal Economy 2. Rational agent-based understanding of the informal sector: A critical assessment Rene Rivera-Huerta 3. A new informal economy in Africa: The case of Ghana Franklin Obeng-Odoom and Stephen Ameyaw 4. Development of entrepreneurial potential among undergraduates of a private university in Nigeria Akeem Ayofe Akinwale 5. The confounding influence of urban informality on innovation and production specialisation in production clusters: evidence from Nairobi John C. Harris Part II: Informal Sector Innovations: Insights from Africa 6. The dynamics of local innovations among formal and informal enterprises: Stories from rural South Africa Alexandra Luis Mhula Links, Tim Hart and Peter Jacobs 7. Actor networks and innovation activities among rural enterprises in a South African locality Kgabo Hector Ramoroka, Peter Jacobs and Hlokoma Mangqalaza 8. Grassroots Innovation as a Mechanism for Smallholder Development in South Africa: Can Impact be Measured? Brigid Letty, Zanele Shezi and Maxwell Mudhara 9. Innovation and agricultural exports: the case of sub-Saharan Africa Monika Korzun, Bamidele Adekunle and Glen C. Filson 10. Effects of climate change on a peri-urban farming community in Lagos, Nigeria Taibat Lawanson, Olabode Orelaja and Michael Simire 11. Agro-based technological innovation: a critical analysis of the determinants of innovation in the informal sector in Harare, Zimbabwe Tarisai Manyati Part III: Informal Sector Innovations: Insights from India 12. Dynamic networks of grassroots innovators in India Hemant Kumar 13. Jugaad to grassroot innovations: understanding the landscape of the informal sector innovations in India Hemant Kumar and Saradindu Bhaduri 14. Exploring informal sector community innovations and knowledge appropriation: A study of Kashmiri pashmina shawls Fayaz Ahmad Sheikh 15. Rethinking technological choices and knowledge production in the mines and on the factory floor: Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha's experiences in central India Radhika Krishnan 16. Understanding the diffusion modes of grassroots innovations in India: A study of Honey Bee Network supported innovators Dinesh Abrol and Ankush Gupta 17. Conclusion Mammo Muchie, Saradindu Bhaduri, Anga Baskaran and Fayaz Ahmad Sheikh

Africa has indigenous natural resource management practices that have been existing many years ago among many diverse ethnic groups. Exploration of such practices can substantially contribute to the nature conservation and welfare improvement in predominately rural areas like the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. On account of this postulation, this paper reviews selected case studies on indigenous natural resource management practices in Africa. However, the focus is on the survey of farmers’ practices, knowledge and perception of forest, soil and water conservation (SWC) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Soil erosion is one of the major challenges threatening smallholder agriculture in South Africa. The study shows that there are local forest management practices that can be promoted to wider scale of application in the study areas. However, the local people have limited exposure to SWC measures. Very few farmers have knowledge on local and modern stone bund terracing for the purpose of SWC. Due to lack of awareness, many farmers do not practice SWC measures. These findings have important implications for policy development to achieve sustainable rural development in the study areas. Key words: Natural resources management, forest, soil and water conservation, smallholder, farmers, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Innovation is of paramount importance if Africa is to achieve sustained economic growth, development, and improved welfare of its people. In this context, the paper argues that institutional factors, despite their importance in shaping innovation on the continent, have received less attention. The paper is based on literature review and uses an institutional analysis framework to explore how institutional factors influence innovation activities. Institutions are the rules of the game – they determine if the game is played, how the game is played, who plays the game, and with what constraints. Currently, the institutions are not fair both at the national and international levels. The institutional set-up is not favourable for any meaningful innovation. Therefore, African governments should aim to create and promote strong and effective (enforceable) institutions at the national and continental levels. In addition, they should aim to have the international institutional set-up favourable to ensure its compe...

A regulatory framework is among the major factors that determine the innovative capacity of a nation. It may block or ease innovative performance; it may scare away skills and expertise or may reverse brain drain and waste, it may attract and retain investment or lead to relocation of investors. The Ethiopian Biosafety Proclamation of 2009 has come under thorough scrutiny from all sides for its effect on innovation in biotechnology in Ethiopia. While it was expected to introduce a creative mechanism of compliance with international environmental agreements without upsetting the promising biotechnology research in Ethiopia, it conspicuously failed to strike a balance between the imperatives of promoting innovation and protecting humans and biodiversity. Contrary to the claims of the architects of the Proclamation, the legislation hardly entertained any national indigenous input other than adopting a more stringent version of the parent law—the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. The article examines the Ethiopian Biosafety law and its impact on innovation in biotechnology and other emerging technologies that go by other names. It will discuss some striking parallels between EU biotechnology regulation and the Proclamation and in particular the U-turns Europe is taking. Broader issues of the linkage between regulation and innovation policy and the imperatives of expediting innovation are emerging as Ethiopia takes the road Europe is abandoning and even international biosafety regulation is revising. It will argue that the promotion of the responsible development of biotechnology in Ethiopia needs to be reinstated as a priority and not pushed aside as secondary interest.

This study explores factors that affect the adoption of agroforestry (AF) technologies in ‘Tsolo’ and ‘Lusikisiki’ areas in O.R. Tambo district in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is based on empirical evidence gathered from households in the study areas. The aim and objective of the study are consistent with the strategic priorities of the South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries. The study finds that agricultural farming experience, education level of the household head, a proxy variable for household wealth status, land size owned, number of livestock owned, pace of adoption of other agricultural technologies, the scale of slope of farm land, and percent of severely degraded farm land affect the adoption of AF technologies in the study areas significantly and with the higher magnitudes of the odds ratios. These variables need to be considered in all the initiatives by government and non-governmental organizations to promote AF as a strategy to realize integrated rur...

Kaiser, Crother, Kelly, Luiselli, O’Shea, Ota, Passos, Schleip and Wuster (2013) have shown the relationship between fiscal discipline and the successful completion of municipal projects in Sub-Saharan African countries. The study aims to assess and evaluate the degree of fiscal discipline exercised by employees of the City of Tshwane on municipal finance. Financial practitioners working in the City of Tshwane are required to comply with regulations and guidelines stipulated in the South African Municipal Finance Management Act (Act number 56 of 2003). Data was collected from a stratified random sample of 146 employees of the City of Tshwane who were responsible for providing financial services to customers. Data was collected by using a structured, pre-tested and validated questionnaire of study. Statistical methods such as frequency tables, cross-tab analyses and ordered probit regression were used for performing data analyses. Efficiency in financial management was assessed by assessing the degree of adherence of employees to the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) based on a composite index defined by Kaiser, Crother, Kelly, Luiselli, O’Shea, Ota, Passos, Schleip & Wuster (2013). The study showed that 89% of the 146 employees who were selected for the study demonstrated adequate adherence to the Act, whereas 11% of employees failed to do so by the same standards. The study found that the degree of adherence of employees to the MFMA was significantly influenced by 3 factors. These 3 factors were degree of skills in financial accounting and auditing, duration of service, and degree of job satisfaction, in a decreasing order of strength. The results indicated a robust association between fiscal discipline and the successful completion of municipal projects.

The aim of study was to assess the pace of adoption and quality of E-Commerce services that are provided to customers in Johannesburg, South Africa. Data was collected from 180 E-Commerce enterprises operating in Fourways, Eastgate and Rosebank. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance model (MANOVA) with maximum likelihood estimation was used for comparing the three business districts of Johannesburg with regards to the average cost of services and the average length of time required for providing services to customers. The adequacy of E-Commerce services provided to customers was assessed based on criteria defined by Bonson et al. [1]. The study showed that there was no significant difference among the three business districts of Johannesburg with regards to both variables of comparison (cost and time). The results showed that the pace of adoption of E-Commerce services in the three business districts was significantly influenced by a combination of technological and organisational factors. The study has shown that E-Commerce enterprises in Johannesburg need assistance from the City of Johannesburg in areas related to infrastructure, economic incentives, skills-based training, and monitoring and evaluation.

One of the priority needs of Small, Micro and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMMEs) that operate in Alexandra Township is to adopt effective marketing strategies that are recommended by Mooradian, Matzler and Ring (2012) and Kotler and Keller (2012), in which emphasis is placed on setting the right selling price of products, offering the right product, utilising the right promotion strategies for products, and rendering services to customers at the right place. Information needed for the survey was gathered from 108 operators of SMMEs in Alexandra Township. Ordered logit and Bayesian methods were used for estimating predictors of effective marketing. The study found that 63 of the 108 respondents who were selected for the study (58%) possessed adequate marketing skills and capabilities, whereas the remaining 45 respondents (42.23%) were incapable of marketing their goods and services effectively. Results obtained from logit and Bayesian analysis showed that 3 factors affected the ability to market goods and services effectively (access to credit facility for ordering stock, access to loan from money-lending institutions, and ability to network with wholesale suppliers and retailers).

Indigenous trees have been discovered to be disappearing from urban areas at alarming rates, and the contributions of the existing trees are not adequately documented. Milicia excelsa is an indigenous trees species in tropical Africa and popularly known as Iroko. Due to extensive exploitation for wood production and other socio-economic activities, the tree species is classified as threatened and relics could only be found in a few locations. A survey of the trees in the city of Ibadan was therefore carried out to determine their distribution as well as their socio-economic contributions to the urban people. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to the people living close to the trees or working in the locations where the trees are sighted to determine the socio-economic benefits. A total of 65 trees (0.14 trees/km2) of M. excelsa were sighted. As observed in the city, the benefits of the tree species were categorized as: environmental, medicinal, economic, spiritual and ecological services. Pr...

This paper is a result of a 6-year long follow-up study that was conducted in Pretoria, South Africa between 2004 and 2009 in order to assess the impact of underutilization of modern family planning methods on adverse outcomes of pregnancy in women of the childbearing age of 15–49 years. The Cox Proportional Hazards Model was used for estimating hazard ratios. Multilevel analysis was used for estimating variability in the utilization of modern family planning methods at service delivery wards and health service facilities. The study showed that women who experienced adverse outcomes of pregnancy were characterized by poor utilization of reproductive health and modern family planning services. The percentage of women who regularly used modern family planning methods such as condoms, pills, injections, intra-uterine devices and sterilization was 41.74%. The average ages of women at first sex and pregnancy were 18.72 and 19.36 years, respectively. Adverse outcomes of pregnancy occurred in 12.19% of women. Ba...

This paper investigates Small and Medium Sized Enterprises' (SMEs) innovative moves applied to their practical works. The different dimensions of the organizational innovation implication in Iranian SMEs at Qom province are explored. Based on the findings a model was developed wherein the explored dimensions were tested by an empirical study. As part of the practical move, 60 top and middle managers were surveyed by a questionnaire to reveal their concentration innovative pillar. Factor analysis method was applied to measure the degree of their innovativeness. The results illustrate the investigated companies have focused more on ‘Product, Process, and Market Innovations’ from a variety of options available to them.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the positive impacts of advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) on organizational performance. Many firms from developing countries attempt to import AMTs from foreign suppliers in order to improve their products' qualities, reduce costs and so on. This article, in addition to articulation of AMTs' benefits, tries to open up a new window of opportunity to analyze their possible threats as well. It seems that importing machinery without adequate planning may only gain short-term profits, and cause long-lived dependence on suppliers. To examine this assumption, a conversation analysis is conducted to identify the possible threats by interviewing 33 people, including middle managers and engineers from some developing countries which try to move in line with development, such as Iran, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Malaysia, and China. After eliciting the current problems of importing AMTs, Grounded theory (GT) is conducted to design a framework to overcome the...

The objective was to investigate factors that affect the efficient management of solid waste produced by commercial businesses operating in the City of Pretoria, South Africa. Data were gathered from 1,034 businesses. Efficiency in solid waste management was assessed using a structural time-based model designed for evaluating efficiency as a function of the length of time required to manage waste. Data analysis was performed using statistical procedures such as frequency tables, Pearson's chi-squared tests of association and binary logistic regression analysis. Odds ratios estimated from logistic regression analysis were used to identify key factors that affect efficiency in the proper disposal of waste. The study showed that 857 of the 1,034 businesses selected for the study (83%) were found to be efficient enough with regards to the proper collection and disposal of solid waste. Based on odds ratios estimated from binary logistic regression analysis, efficiency in the proper management of solid waste wa...

Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) has been the subject of voluminous literature. Much has been written about its origin, implications and dispositions. Yet, the subject of IPRs is fraught with murky issues, especially as it applies to developing countries. This paper will examine IPRs within the context of developing countries, in particular those in Africa. It will cite examples in the field of traditional medicine/medicinal plants to show how IPRs have been applied in the past. This paper will also try to chart a few pointers for the future to turn the tide in favour of developing countries in Africa by focusing more on potential collaboration among developing countries.

The essay presents an overview of the prevailing theoretical literature on innovation and agriculture. It also examines the adequacy of existing innovation to guide policy regarding agricultural productivity. In addition, the essay sketches some directions for fruitful linkage in innovation systems and agricultural productivity. It argues that innovation in the agricultural sector in Africa has been dominated by the narrow approach of employing technology transfer and adoption theory. Indeed, African farmers, their innovative behavior practices and ’the markets’ are relevant in studying innovative practices that result in sustainable agricultural productivity. Although there has been a long tradition of development assistance investment in public research systems, yet there is growing recognition that while public agricultural research is necessary, it is not sufficient on its own to create a dynamic innovation capacity. There are challenges that exist in agricultural productivity, there is need for Innovation system approach in Africa agriculture. Thus, increasing and sustaining agricultural productivity not only relies on improved production efficiencies, such as through adoption of modern or improved technologies and practices, but also critically relies on many other factors that are institutional, environmental, social, economical and technological. This essay recommended that a multi-layered innovative behaviour and socio-economic heterogeneity approach is needed in Africa Agricultural Economy to encourage and boost productivity. Keywords: Agriculture, Innovation system, Africa and linkage

Climatic fluctuation is putting Nigeria’s agriculture system under serious threat and stress. The study of the effect of climate change on agricultural productivity is critical given its impact in ...

It is not easy to do justice and write in a short article on Chris Freeman's enormous scientific contributions spanning over half a century of work since the late 1950s. The article begins with an exploration of some of the contributions of Chris Freeman to the economic theory of innovation. Second, Chris Freeman had been engaged in major debates, but he had a particular way of maintaining strong argument whilst treating those he argues with genuine respect without engaging in needless polemics due to the differences they have with him on scientific work. Finally the contribution of Chris Freeman to Africa and his role in the emerging globelics inspired effort to link innovation with development by building research and inter-researcher engagements between the North and South, and South with South will be explored.

When in Africa we speak and dream of and work for, a rebirth of that continent as a full participant in the affairs of the world in the next century, we are deeply conscious of how dependent that is on the mobilisation and strengthening of the continent’s resources of learning. Nelson Mandela Address at Harvard University, September, 1998 quoted in East African, September 1–7, 2003 A paradigm can, for that matter, even insulate the community from those socially important problems that are not reducible to the puzzle form, because they cannot be stated in terms of the conceptual and instrumental tools the paradigm supplies. Thomas Kuhn The Structure of Scientific Revolutions p. 37 Africa suffers from a pessimism of description as well as a pessimism of prescription it has suffered for over 500 years from a condescending and often violent gaze from diagnosis to destiny. The usual Eurocentric style in reflecting about Africa has always had an underlying tone of reproach and even moral condemnatio...

The article argues for relaunching the debate on Pan-African unity to recapture the lost ground and make good the opportunity cost incurred by Africa in choosing the minimalist aims of settling for fragile and weak states with an equally enfeebled Organisation of African Unity. The construction of a Pan-African identity through the development of a shared goal and social and historical experience of struggling to lifting up Africa from its untenable status as a marginal, oppressed and largely written-off continent is a timely undertaking as an alternative to ethnic involution, social decay and fragmentation.

This article discusses the successful value-added chain within India's leather industry, and then draws contrasts with the evolution of the leather products industries of Kenya and Ethiopia. Much of India's success derives from the ability of its stakeholders—from government to industry—to set their own policies and priorities regarding the development of the leather industry. The fact that India selectively liberalized the entry of a variety of industries into the global economy added to the improved performance of its leather products sub-sector. By contrast, both Ethiopia and Kenya followed different policies regarding liberalization, with differing results. Although the leather industry is important for both countries, moving up the value-added chain remains tenuous at best for Kenya and only slightly better for Ethiopia. This article recommends that both countries need to formulate and implement policies that will move the leather industry from raw and semi-processed production outward to the leather products and leather goods sub-sectors.

Environmentally sound technologies (ESTs) have been recommended for uptake into production mainly from discussions within the United Nations, professional “green” organisations, and industry. The UN has taken the lead both in conceptualising these technologies and organising institutional mechanisms for their transfer. This article engages critically the UN's conception of ESTs and the mechanisms for diffusing them into national industries. A closer look of UNEP/UNIDO's mechanisms for diffusing cleaner production practices and transfers into national industries has also been made to see if new avenues have been opened to connect environment with development at the industrial level. It appears that the so-called “cleaner” technology risks being no more than an old wine in new bottles.